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Global Warming Links - a compendium of resources.
posted by Gyan at 11:52 PM PST - 8 comments

JoeMyGod implores his queer peers: What's the Gayest Thing You've Ever Done? • ''That is SO gay! I've been thinking about that expression a lot lately. What does it mean? Is it a playground epithet that is simply in vogue with the grown-ups? Or is it a sign that gay culture is so integrated into the pop culture that even the hets now see the evidence of homo-style in their everyday lives, and make jokes about it?" A followup to the original post, Part II: Flaming Son of "Gay, Gayer, Gayest"
posted by dhoyt at 11:18 PM PST - 94 comments

Just fill the catapult with one or more cupids, pull the trigger, and aim at the person of your dreams! This "love gun" alarms me, but maybe I overreact as a parent about my kid's exposure to violence. Is this just a harmless novelty, or a disturbing example of how desensitized we are to guns? At least it's for kids over 3.
posted by margarita at 8:47 PM PST - 23 comments

What do Captain Marvel and the dad from "My Three Sons" have in common? This guy knows. In fact, he knows more about The Captain (not that other Captain Marvel -- there is a difference) and his entire superheroic family than anyone else on the planet. You may think your obsessions are impressive, but you've got nothing on Walt Grogan.
posted by grabbingsand at 8:16 PM PST - 7 comments

Boycott City. This interesting Askme thread and this informative post inspired me to post this. There are many of the usual suspects here, and boy, do these folks hate Jiffy-Lube. Also boycott news and personal essays. You can even oppose a boycott, thereby boycotting a boycott. requires registration, but it is free and fun
posted by marxchivist at 8:14 PM PST - 14 comments

RIP, Dean Wormer
posted by docpops at 7:39 PM PST - 22 comments

One fashion trend that I wish would go away is the suicide vest.
posted by furtive at 5:49 PM PST - 45 comments

The Renaissance saw the publication of many great romantic epics: Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso in 1516; Torquato Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered in 1581; and Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene in 1590 and 1596. But perhaps the most ambitious and mysterious of them all was the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili published in 1499 by Aldus Manutius (previously discussed here). The Poliphili has usually been attributed to an Italian monk named Francesco Colonna, although recently some have claimed that it was the work of architect and humanist Leon Battista Alberti, even though he died in 1472. The Poliphili has long fascinated scholars because of its amazing typography, the cinematic style of its woodcuts, and the strange messages seemingly hidden in this multi-lingual text. Written in Italian, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldean, and even some hieroglyphs, it has only recently been translated into English. This strange text has inspired a great deal of research and even a New York Times best-selling murder mystery.
posted by papakwanz at 5:47 PM PST - 18 comments

Stuck Like Chuck - A Philadelphia writer's sad, brief but captivating observations of another's seemingly constant return to self-destruction; in turn, unflinchingly relating his own struggle.
posted by AlexReynolds at 5:47 PM PST - 10 comments

Pay It Forward. Rather than sharing in a fun night of drink, dance and cursing with their teenage pals, two girls make cookies for their neighbors . A surprise gift of oven-fresh cookies and homemade hearts decorated with "Have a great day!". Priceless, you say? Try $900.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 4:18 PM PST - 119 comments

Canadian Couple Offers Drug Dog for Hire (Reuters link)
A couple bought a dog trained to sniff drugs for $20,000 and now they will hire it out to sniff around your kid's stuff to see if they've been doing drugs within the last 30 days for a mere $20 a sniff (they also have a sliding scale for businesses that need them).
Where to draw the line between concern and obsession for keeping one's children safe? Some sites are keeping tabs on the infringement of children's rights including privacy. Which begs the question, Do Children Have a Right to Privacy?
posted by fenriq at 3:59 PM PST - 46 comments

Wedding Bells in NYC?? -- with a beautifully-written ruling, NY Supreme Ct. Justice Doris Ling-Cohan states that denying marriage to gay and lesbian New Yorkers is unconstitutional: ... There has been a steady evolution of the institution of marriage throughout history which belies the concept of a static traditional definition. Marriage, as it is understood today, is both a partnership of two loving equals who choose to commit themselves to each other and a State institution designed to promote stability for the couple and their children. The relationships of plaintiffs fit within this definition of marriage. Similar to opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples are entitled to the same fundamental right to follow their hearts and publicly commit to a lifetime partnership with the person of their choosing. The recognition that this fundamental right applies equally to same-sex couples cannot legitimately be said to harm anyone. ...
More here
posted by amberglow at 3:53 PM PST - 108 comments

How much does a kilogram weigh? Well, less than it used to. That's one of the reasons why Germany's PTB (Physical and Technical Institute) has been attempting to create a virtual kilogram. This was news a while back when they first decided to use silicon. Now they're going to try it with bismuth. (Details in German, English via Babelfish.)
posted by sninky-chan at 3:35 PM PST - 24 comments

Kenneth Williams on television The overall feeling is of a medium trying and failing to find a way of capturing an extraordinary talent.
posted by feelinglistless at 3:12 PM PST - 1 comments

Bear Line up strings of coloured rolling thingies, using Bear's squirty submarine doodad [Flash][cute]
posted by carter at 2:01 PM PST - 22 comments

In California, a registered sex offender uses the Megan's Law database as a source for potential dates. He searched for men in the database, and then sent several men a letter looking for sex or friendship, explaining how they could look up his profile in the same system. Turns out that it is illegal for a registered sex offender to access the database of registered sex offenders. (first FPP for me)
posted by stevil at 12:52 PM PST - 65 comments

The Faint + Viral Marketing + Indie Label Cash! Friday Flash Fun. Addictive in a musically-manipulative way. Drop Kick the Faint -- a Flash gadget-as-marketing ploy from the fine folks at Saddle Creek, no doubt flush with cash from their homeboys Bright Eyes' recent success (and critical fellating). A band takes the piss out of themselves, we get to kick them across a parking lot in flyover country and -- huzzah! -- hear cuts from their new record over and over again. Win-win-win? This is what happens when indie labels get cash and a Flash designer with a sense of humor, I guess.
posted by chandy72 at 12:21 PM PST - 27 comments

Have you ever wondered about the exciting world of greeting cards? With this recently unearthed educational film, you too can capture a glimpse of the glamourous world of manufactured expressions! via Waxy's Links
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 11:35 AM PST - 20 comments

Oakland-based photographer Scott Squire documents both the familiar and the unfamiliar in a style he calls NonFiction Photography. There's some pretty amazing stuff here.
posted by pmbuko at 11:17 AM PST - 4 comments

All Star Skate Park is a fun flash game for a day like today. Go on you know want to do a truck grab followed by an inverted hover.
posted by riffola at 11:02 AM PST - 11 comments

The Painful Truth. "The Iraq war is a new kind of hell, with more survivors - but more maimed, shattered limbs - than ever. A revolution in battlefield medicine is helping them conquer the pain."
posted by homunculus at 10:51 AM PST - 17 comments

Only Connect. NAI! The story of technological breakdown, a failure of true love, and how an Internet service non-provider ruined my life. Here's a choice quote, "The technician, as always, was very nice. He couldn't figure out why my password wasn't working, but he did go to the Web site himself to access my account and read my e-mails to me. Privacy was not an issue. At this point in my shipwrecked existence I was beyond trying to cling to any shred of dignity."
posted by gsb at 9:52 AM PST - 46 comments

Fighting crime with Photoshop. For the past three years, a twelve-year-old girl has been sexually abused, with a photographic record in circulation via the internet. Police have been tracking the photographs, but have not released them for fear of tipping off her kidnappers—until today, with the girl photoshopped out of the pictures. Now they're asking the public to help identify the locations. So far the response has been overwhelming, and has narrowed the search for the crime scene to a single hotel.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 9:45 AM PST - 72 comments

Heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, dead at 99. Against his wishes, Schmeling was held up by Hitler as a shining example of Aryan supremacy for years until he became unpopular among the Nazis after losing a rematch against Joe Louis. Due to "the embarrassing loss to the black man," he was not used anymore in Nazi propaganda, which was a relief to him. In truth, Max Schmeling was not just a sportsman, he was a hero.
posted by miss lynnster at 9:42 AM PST - 25 comments

Today is Charles Augustus Lindbergh's (1902 - 1974) birthday. A pioneering American aviator, who was dubbed the Lone Eagle. In May 1927 he became the first person to fly nonstop and solo from New York to Paris, making the trip in 33½ hours in his specially built monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis. During the flight he battled extreme drowsiness, a malfunctioning compass, and wing icing. He was well aware that six others had died trying to accomplish this feat. After receiving a tumultuous hero's welcome in Paris, Lindbergh visited several countries on his way home, the last being England. He stopped at Buckingham Palace at the invitation of George V. As they conversed, the king posed numerous questions about the long flight, including one he felt could be asked only in private: "Sir, how did you pee?"
posted by indiebass at 8:34 AM PST - 32 comments

Safia Taleb Al Souhail was recognized by President Bush's SOTU address with this introduction: "Eleven years ago, Safia's father was assassinated by Saddam's intelligence service. Three days ago in Baghdad, Safia was finally able to vote for the leaders of her country -- and we are honored that she is with us tonight." This year's chairwarmer is an interesting person for the President to have chosen to highlight in his speech. Especially considering how much work she's done for the neocon movement, the fact that she hadn't lived in Iraq for 30 years, was an American-placed a member of the Iraqi interim government, and the fact that she's the new Iraqi ambassador to Egypt. You may also remember that she was paraded in front of us back in 2002 as justification for going after Saddam. , It's interesting to note that her sister blames the US for her father's death, saying that the CIA sold him out because they needed Saddam in power at that point. Shades of the incubator story, no? More research ongoing at KOS.
posted by dejah420 at 7:59 AM PST - 42 comments

The 13th Annual Wing Bowl took place this morning in Philadelphia. Bill "El Wingador" Simmons took the crown in overtime. He defeated a diverse group of opponents including defending champion Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, a 5-foot-5 99 pound freak of nature who is widely regarded as one of the best in the sport of competitive eating. The event was preceded by an ugly scene in which thousands of fans were turned away from the arena which had reached capacity by 4:30am.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:24 AM PST - 34 comments

Iraqi Citizens Fight Back: "The residents of a small Iraqi village have killed five insurgents who had attacked them for voting in last weekend's national elections." ABC Journalist Mark Willacy: "It would appear that people are getting sick of the insurgency. But certainly many people here see the insurgency as the work of foreigners who want to turn their country into some sort of Islamic state, like Afghanistan under the Taliban." On Sunday, insurgents used a kidnapped boy with Down's syndrome as a human bomb. From IraqTheModel: "The poor victim was so scared when ordered to walk to the searching point and began to walk back to the terrorists. In response the criminals pressed the button and blew up the poor victim almost half way between their position and the voting center's entrance".
posted by jenleigh at 7:18 AM PST - 99 comments

Men & Boys Knitting Up A Storm Although knitting has become popular in recent years, it has primarily been seen as a "woman's" hobby. Now it seems that it is a manly man's hobby as well, in spite of the fact that men may have been the original knitters.
posted by cass at 7:17 AM PST - 17 comments

My wife is weeping with delight over my hardness and enlargement "Let's make the bed right away". "Rumble, clickity-clack. All aboard".
posted by srboisvert at 7:12 AM PST - 21 comments

It was 125 years ago today that the story of the Black Donnellys reached its horrible end. This dark chapter of Canadian history is a cross between Little House on the Prairie and an angry mob, complete with ghost stories and punk rock.
posted by phirleh at 7:03 AM PST - 16 comments

The end of our universe. Can humanity survive when everything comes to an end? The trick is really understanding what "everything" is.
posted by davebush at 6:21 AM PST - 36 comments

The Wurst Gallery : Artists are challenged to find pieces from local thrift stores and alter them into a new work of art. These are the results.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:16 AM PST - 10 comments